USA Reports from the USA indicate Charlotte-based bus manufacturer DesignLine has filed for bankruptcy protection. Local papers say this comes after two weeks of staff being forced to take holidays and many layoffs.
They claim DesignLine has listed assets valued at $14m but has debts totalling $37.5m – the largest creditor being New Jersey Transit which is claiming $3.6m for nondelivery of buses it paid for. Another creditor, Metrolina Steel, also based in Charlotte, was owed $181,000 and was itself forced to file for bankruptcy protection. Earlier this year the DesignLine employed around 250 people.
Originally formed in New Zealand, DesignLine was acquired by a father and son investment team which took the main business to the USA in 2006, leaving a smaller satellite operation in New Zealand. It is understood many prominent Charlotte citizens were investors and for some time management had been desperately seeking further investment to keep the business solvent.